Limited0Over: Interludes and Omakes
by Misterangryeyes
Summary: Standalone stuff set in Chaldea/Elsewhere. Fun ideas that don't fit my other fic, but are still fun. Interludes that don't fit into the current continuity. The first chapter is an interlude that broke the flow of the original story too much, but I liked it too much to delete outright.
1. Garden of Avalon

**Interlude: The Magus of Flowers.**

Here where the flowers bloom forever. Here where glittering fairies dance upon the water, and the verdant trees stand tall and proud, unbent and unending.

Here in the center of it all, where a stone tower floats above a field of red.

He sleeps. Not for an especially long time, but still a time that cannot be counted by the hour and minute of a clock. Time, the prisoner knows intimately, can be measured differently here.

Here where the magus lies upon a bed of flowers, simple flowing robes of the finest cloth of a time long since past adorning him, his staff held lightly in an unbreakable grip. His hair cascades over his shoulders, white as snow with motes of rainbow light clinging to a few errant strands.

In this stone tower, sleeps a magus. The one sinful being in all of Avalon, he reckons, though not with any real conviction behind it. Most of the things he reckons are do not have much conviction.

He dreams of the world at present.

What his eyes are fixed on, are not gods or beast or mysteries. At this present, at this time, their time in the sun has passed, belonging now to a night lit only by the moon. And even so the moon shall grow dark one day.

He watches with the eyes of a man with infinite depths of patience, but the mind and capacity to snap irritably at an errant child when she did not grasp the concept of knighthood.

He watches the flow of time mesh with the fate of humanity, as a man wears his robe as it in turn wrestles with the wind.

A bothersome sort of man who loved humanity as a race-

-But could not see much point in especially liking the individuals that comprised it.

So why then did Merlin meddle in the creation of a single girl to become a king?

At its heart, the answer was as simple as it was cruel:

 _"Because it was interesting."_

Thus he knows he is a sinner in a utopia that has no place for sinners.

Thus he knows this fate is deserved.

 _But-_

Even though he knew his fate was sealed upon entering this stone prison-

 _What of hers?_ He had asked.

And as he watched her make a pact upon that sunset hill, he shook his head in sorrow. Even an inhuman being like him could see that mistake she was making. Her search for the Holy Grail would take her to countless eras, where she would fight and die in an endless cycle to go back to her origin only to destroy it.

And yet-

An eternity later-

She abandoned her quest when she had every opportunity to lay her hands upon the Grail.

And thus Merlin had rejoiced, having seen truly everything she had to give him. He had seen off Cath Palug into the human world, to learn as he did about that wonderful species, content in casting off the last of his attachments to the world outside the stone tower.

At this time now, he sees her again, summoned unintentionally by a young boy.

His eyes light up. This boy is more like her than she knows.

 _Perhaps this is it._

He had not known exactly why she had chosen to accept her fate at the end of that long journey for the Holy Grail, despite that journey.

He watches the boy become a man, every bit as broken as the boy had been, but a man nonetheless. And he sees her remember who she was before taking up that sword.

Merlin smiles in delight as the boy and the king become the boy and the girl, his heart lifting as she discovers what it means to love someone.

He himself does not understand human love, even after all time he has spent watching them, but he had learned to recognize it in the past. If only to run away once it reared its ugly head.

At the end of that short but eventful war (quite the tale indeed), he sees the promise made.

 _"We'll see each other again. No matter how long it takes, I'll find you again."_

 _"Then I too will wait for you…Ah, of course. I never properly said this to you, did I? I love you, Shirou."_

 _"I love you too, Artoria."_

Merlin speaks then, for the first time since Cath Palug's departure so long ago.

"So that's why," he muses to himself quietly. His soft and melodic voice is no worse after that long stretch of never having used it. "Truly an outrageous ending for someone like her, no for those two."

And this Shirou Emiya character.

"What a guy!" exclaims the magus, laughing. "Just how much room is in that hollow soul of his? That he be no less stubborn, no, perhaps even more so than she ever was! Ah, humans truly are the best!"

So when it comes the time for Shirou Emiya to enter his own Reality Marble, Merlin grows a small frown.

"Doubtless it will be more boring work trying to find a unique path to **this side of the world,"** he says, only slightly disappointed. "But still I cannot see into that realm."

And when the hand of Alaya reaches into that world, empty and beseeching, he grows thoughtful.

And after another time, but a shorter time than the times of silence before it, Merlin's prodigiously wise mind alights upon an idea: an interest, more like.

"I wonder," he says, standing up slowly and walking over to the window that was his only view of the outside. "What it would be like to be a Servant like those two children?"

A truly inhuman smile grows on his face. A joyful chorus of angels could sing. A gang of imps could cackle.

But the only sound that was made, here in the Garden of Avalon-

Was the sound of a robe wrestling with the wind.

And then nothing remained in this stone tower for a time but the laughs of the fairies dancing on the water, the rustling of proud trees leaves in the wind, and the echoes of a magus' laughter.

* * *

"Artoria?"

"...yes? Is something the matter, Master?"

"I could ask you the same question. You look kind of, uh, spooked."

"No, it is...nothing of consequence. Simply a strange feeling. Neither good nor bad."

"Are you sure that's it?"

"I'm sure it's nothing, Master."

"Uh, right. I guess I'll just go ahead then?"

"Indeed, Master. Good luck."

A steadying breath. A mutter.

"Well then. Black keys begone, here we go."

A flash of light fountains into the air.

And as it dies down the scent of springtime flowers fills the room.


	2. FateStay Night: Break Sword Requiem

**Fate/Stay Night: Limited/Zero Over**

Shirou Emiya breathes hard as he sits up on the floor of his shed. He has died twice before, once in fire and once by the red spear held by that man in blue tights.

That man is in front of him once more, holding that same spear.

Shirou Emiya knows that death well.

Though his body shakes with an instinctual fear that screams at him to run, his thoughts converge into one will, crystallizes into one thought of frustration and despair.

 ** _"Damn it...I..."_**

The summoning circle two or three meters away glows as if in anticipation.

 ** _"Won't be killed meaninglessly..."_**

Red symbols solidify on the back of Shirou's left hand, glowing bright.

 ** _"By someone like you!"_**

The spear is thrust, at such a speed where ordinary eyes cannot follow.

A deluge of light illuminates the shed for a split second.

* * *

In another world, there would have been another who would take to the stage of this Grail War. In another world, she would have loved and been loved by her Master.

In this world however-

* * *

Two heads of red hair waved in a gust of moonlight wind.

A line of darkness batted aside the line of red.

"The seventh Servant?!" The man in blue exclaimed.

The red-haired man who suddenly appeared swung once more with his weapon and the spearman retreated from the shed, recognizing the close confines were to his disadvantage.

Shirou Emiya looked up, his amber eyes wide. At the same time, the man who saved him turned to face him, his figure silhouetted by the moonlight. Shirou's eyes grew wider in recognition and shock.

For though it was older and lined with scars, the face that Shirou Emiya saw was his own.

"Oho?" The man who looked so much like him raised an eyebrow. He rested a black scabbarded katana on his left shoulder. His torso was bare and lined with scars, but for a tattered and small grey cloak that rested upon his right shoulder, covering his right arm and nothing more. Small boxes like pockets were attached to the man's black hakama on his left leg.

"Well, I suppose you really are my Master then, kid." The man's voice is low, even older than his appearance suggests. "This humble Saber enlists himself into your service."

The unfamiliar word pulled Shirou into some sort of coherency. "Master?" He repeated numbly. "Saber?"

"Exactly," Saber said with a nod before turning to face the man in blue who was still watching carefully. "And if I'm not mistaken that's Lancer over there. Kid, If you'll excuse me."

Saber jumped from the shed and the sudden movement cleared away the rest of Shirou's shock.

"Wait!" Shirou yells, scrambling to his feet. A wave of pain from his ribcage reminded him of the beating he had just taken, and he fell to his knees with a grunt.

By the time he picked himself up to walk to the shed's entrance, Saber was already in the middle of fighting the man in blue.

It was clear that both men were masters of their weapons, their exchanges so fast that Shirou could barely see anything but the blur of black and red meeting again and again.

But even Shirou could see that Saber was pressing Lancer hard, getting the better of each exchange.

Saber slammed his sword into the haft of the red spear. Lancer used the force of the blow to disengage, throwing himself back a dozen paces.

"Your swordsmanship is impressive," said Lancer. "I've never met a man whose skill could veil my eyes like that."

"And I gotta say," drawled Saber as he rested his scabbard on his shoulder. "That's a damn nice spear you got there, Lancer. I haven't ever seen many like it."

"Hah?" Lancer scoffed, likewise placing the butt of his spear against the ground. "This coming from the man who fights with a sheathed blade?"

Saber tapped the black scabbard against his temple. "I thought I was doing you a courtesy of fighting at your current level. Or don't tell me that you're really trying your hardest with just this?"

"Tch, so you noticed." Lancer shook his head with a scowl. "Blame my Master for this. Man, can you believe the nerve of it? Telling a Servant not to fight his hardest in a war?"

"Well I wouldn't know," said Saber with a shrug. "I think I'll get along with my Master just fine."

Lancer barked a short laugh, looking from Shirou to Saber's faces. "That does seem the case, eh?"

"Is it too much to ask for us to leave it here, then?" Saber prodded.

"It leaves a bad taste in my mouth to leave a fight..." Lancer turned away. "But my job is done here."

"Recon, was it? You have a cautious master, Cu Chulainn."

Lancer turned back and narrowed his eyes at Saber, who in turn smirked back at him.

The Irishman sighed heavily, his face resigned. "Man, that makes this twice in one night. How'd you figure it out?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" said Saber, still smirking.

Lancer laughed.

And all traces of levity vanished from his eyes.

"You shouldn't have said anything," Lancer said in a low voice.

Saber's smirk disappeared. His eyes narrowed as he transferred his scabbarded sword from his shoulder to his waist.

Labcer took a stance, and his spear was covered in an ominous dark red light that flowed around it like blood.

"That stance," Shirou muttered in recognition.

"I don't suppose you could...?" asked Saber quietly.

Lancer shook his head. "I can't leave you alive if you know my name."

"Damn," muttered Saber.

He moved his right thumb off the sword's cross guard and tightened his grip.

"I'll take your heart!" Lancer roared.

He leapt forward.

Saber took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

" **Gae-** "

Lancer reared back with his arm, holding his spear with it as if to throw.

Saber set the soles of his feet firmly against the ground.

" **Bolg!"**

A jet of dark red light extended from Lancer's spear, crackling and fast as lightning, aiming for Saber's chest.

Saber drew his blade and opened his eyes.

Both were as dark as starless midnight.

He swung, meeting the spear thrust with the edge of his blade.

For the smallest of moments between space and time, all was still.

Then a sound rang out, like the glass of reality itself crackling in agony.

A shockwave erupted from the point where the two weapons met, blowing both Servants backwards across opposite sides of the yard, and throwing Shirou's legs out from under him.

 _What just happened?_ Shirou thought in shock as he struggled to his feet once more.

Both Saber and Lancer had dug furrows through the earth to keep their footing.

The red glow that had surrounded Lancer's spear dissipated, as did the black aura surrounding Saber's sword.

Saber held up his sword, seeing his face reflected in the moonlit blade. "So that counts as a death, does it?" He muttered to himself.

"That sword-! No," Lancer narrowed his eyes. "Who are you to cancel out my spear's curse with a sword technique alone!?"

Saber looked up at Lancer. As he sheathed his blade, it hissed like hot steel being quenched.

"You know I won't tell you that."

"You-"

"More importantly Lancer," interrupted Saber. "Your sure-kill Noble Phantasm failed. I doubt your Master will be pleased with you."

Lancer's face twisted into a grimace before turning into a feral smile. "Tch, it's just as you say."

He leapt up backwards and landed on the roof of Emiya's house.

"But I won't be held back by my Master the next time we meet," he said, looking down on Saber. "You better not pull your punches either, you hear?"

Saber shrugged. "I wouldn't do you the dishonour of killing a man with a sheathed blade."

Lancer laughed. "Well said, Saber! I'm looking forward to it."

With that, Lancer bounded into the night and vanished.

Saber stood looking into the direction Lancer disappeared in, his expression impassive.

Shirou walked up hesitantly to the man. "Saber?"

Saber let out a breath and seemed to relax. "Just making sure he's gone, kid. That Lancer is trouble. I don't think I could have beaten him without using enough of my Noble Phantasm to cripple me for the rest of the Grail War."

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked bewildered. "Noble Phantasm? Grail War? I don't understand!"

Saber looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "True, our bond is-" His head snapped up. "Oh, we have more guests. A moment. I'll go greet them."

"Wha-"

Saber leapt up high, the ground cratering slightly under him.

Shirou raised an arm to ward off the dust cloud. "Wait!" He exclaimed too late. Saber had already gone to the direction of the front door.

He ran, ignoring the pain in his legs that flared up again. He couldn't allow Saber to kill anyone like he had been killed!

He stumbled slightly as he forced the door open and heard the clashing of steel against steel.

Shirou saw Saber fighting someone wielding two swords- _the man in red Lancer had been fighting earlier that night-_ and behind the man in red was a girl, whose features were obscured by the fight.

Saber moved like a master butcher disassembling a carcass. Saber slammed the hilt of his sword into the red man's wrist, forcing open his guard and making him lose his grip on a curved white blade. He followed up by batting aside the man's other arm, eliciting a pained grunt as the man's other black blade flew away.

Shirou opened his mouth to call out for Saber to stop, but tripped and caught himself on the nearby wall with an unnoticed grunt of pain.

"Why'd you lose focus?" Saber chastised the red man as he raised his scabbard high.

"Archer!"

Saber stopped and narrowed his eyes at the girl- _Rin Tohsaka_. He kicked the red man across to the other side of the road and in an instant was in front of her, his scabbard poised to fall.

"Wait, Saber!" Shirou yelled out desperately. "Stop!"

Saber hesitated.

Too long. He turned to block a strike from the man in red, Archer, Tohsaka had called him, and then leapt backward to land in front of Shirou.

"I had an opportunity, kid." he said quietly, still in front of Shirou protectively. "Why'd you stop me?"

"You can't hurt her, Saber," said Shirou firmly.

"Eh? Of course I can."

"No, I mean-"

"Well if it isn't Emiya-kun," The two men looked up as the twin-tailed girl crossed her arms and smiled thinly at Shirou. "And...your Servant."

"Tohsaka..." Shirou muttered.

Saber looked from Shirou to Tohsaka Rin and cocked his head. "She is comely enough, I'll grant you that. And another Master to boot? You sure can pick em, kid."

The two teens' cheeks tinted red.

He let them shout their denials for a moment to make his decision.

"Fine then," Saber said, turning around and heading for the open front door. "Girl, why don't you come in and see about teaching my clueless Master a thing or two about this Grail War we find ourselves in. Oh,"

He glanced back at Archer. "And control your Servant. I can feel those eyes stuck to the back of my neck."

* * *

 **Servant Saber: Sengo Muramasa**

 **Parameters:**

Strength: B

Agility: C

Endurance: C

Luck: E

Mana: E

NP: ?

 **Class Skills:**

Magic Resistance: B

Independent Action: A

 **Personal Skills:**

Communion with Nature: EX

Knowledge of Respect and Harmony: A

Empyrean Soul: C

Enemy of Divinity: C


	3. Armories and Amorés

Shirou shifted his feet, kicking up a small plume of dust that lazily rose into the air, carried by an unpleasantly warm breeze.

It met the edge of a rusted sword stuck into the earth. The cloud bisected into halves that quickly dissipated.

"It's a wretched sight, isn't it?"

Shirou looked up into the sky filled with crackling clouds, where titanic gears hung across the cloud bed, turning slowly but inexorably.

"I never figured out what those really were," he said. "Those gears."

He heard EMIYA scoff and turned around. The man in red was leaning against the crossguard of a greatsword impaling the earth. "They're just parts of a machine," EMIYA said dismissively. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"That's not I meant, you know." Shirou's hand fell upon a nearby sword's pommel. His eyes narrowed. Glowing lines branched out from his touch along the sword's surface.

Frayed leather wrappings around its hilt tightened. Rust fell off its blade and crossguard, revealing the black iron underneath. As Shirou took his hand away, wisps of black smoke fell from his fingertips. The nameless black sword shone dully, dusk glinting off its edge.

"I know what you meant," muttered the former Counter Guardian. "It doesn't make my answer any less accurate."

"Just more cryptic."

"You're smart enough to figure it out."

Shirou looked away, amber eyes flickering across the sword-dotted landscape below. "Fine. And you know I don't need the regular weapons. Just show me the Noble Phantasms."

EMIYA raised a hand.

Weapons emerged from the earth across the wasteland in a spine-chilling chorus of rasping metal from all directions. They rose into the air: swords, axes, and spears. Some decrepit and aged, others radiant in innate majesty.

As Shirou turned around slowly, they planted themselves into his forest of blades. A few weapons caught his eye.

"Dyrnwyn?"

"Somewhere in Europe. Don't remember exactly when or where."

"Joyeuse?"

"Charlemagne was weird. I remember _that_ much."

"Tyrfing?"

"Scandinavia. Vikings were around."

"...Fragarach. Bazette?"

"Who?"

Images of an Irishwoman dressed in a suit breaking his through his Projections with her bare hands as if they were made of paper suddenly flashed behind his eyelids.

Shirou shook his head to banish those memories. "...Never mind." He stopped turning, eyes falling on EMIYA again.

The Archer's mouth twisted at his other self's expression. "What? Don't you have Noble Phantasms to be looking at?"

"I had almost forgotten this place," said Shirou quietly. "Seeing it again after all this time..."

He shook his head, looking away. Surveying the endless waste and the countless grave stones once more.

"Do you pity me?" asked EMIYA sardonically.

"No."

EMIYA scoffed. "So then why are you looking at me like that?"

"I guess the right word is..." Shirou looked down at the cracks in the earth, and turned to step away. "Disappointed. Before, you were getting along fine with everyone. Saber, Lancer, even Alter, so I didn't realize. But seeing this again...you disappoint me."

"Really."

Lightning flashed above in the clouds. Accordingly, thunder followed. That of a rain of blades impaling the dirt.

Shirou nodded, still as calm as ever. "You still don't think it was worth it. To be a hero of justice."

There was a pause. A flash of lightning.

"And you do?" EMIYA's voice was still quiet but no longer filed to a razor's edge.

Shirou nodded. "Even if I've discarded that dream I haven't discarded those ideals. I just live for someone else now."

EMIYA blinked. Squinted at Shirou. "Oh. Her?"

From where Shirou stood, the earth sprouted yellow grass that swayed against his knees. Above, golden rays of light burst through the cloud cover, shining down upon him like a spotlight.

His smile should have been enshrouded in the sudden light. But it couldn't have been. "Who else?"

The wind blew across the plains, moaning like a ghoul.

Shirou realized there was uncomfortable silence from the other side of the conversation that had nothing to do with awe that he had manifested part of his Reality Marble without words.

The red head's eyes widened. "You're kidding," said Shirou faintly. The clouds above sewed its break neatly, dimming the gold light shining down. The verdant grey-tinged grass around Shirou dissolved into many motes of prana that in turn faded away.

"I don't know what we're talking about," said EMIYA, hastily turning away.

"You're not kidding," said Shirou as he staggered and clutched at a nearby sword hilt for support, so great was his shock.

EMIYA shot him an indignant look. " _I'm_ you, idiot! What is there to be surprised about?"

Shirou managed to get his legs sorted out from under him. "I rest my case. It wasn't Sakura, right?"

"No! I - well - maybe!"

Shirou crossed his arms in thought. "Mitsuzuri then?"

"Who?"

Shirou nodded sagely, placing a finger on his chin and considering with an eye closed in thought. "If it wasn't Sakura and if it wasn't Mitsuzuri, then who...?"

"Look, I never-"

Shirou looked up sharply. EMIYA fell back a step at those eyes dyed with golden keenness. Dread brought the Archer's features low. "Was it-"

"It wasn't Rin!"

Shirou stared.

EMIYA stared back.

"It was Rin, wasn't it?"

EMIYA scowled. "Alright fine, if I had to say there was one person from my life I would have held feelings for it would have been Rin Tohsaka."

"But I didn't-wait," Shirou caught something in EMIYA's inflection. "Would have?"

EMIYA looked into the distance, impassive. "It's a sordid tale, you know? She was one of the reasons I became a Counter-Guardian. One of the many."

Shirou merely shrugged. "Well, I don't need to hear it."

"And you were acting all interested!" said EMIYA, annoyed. "Did you care so little for a girl who fought beside you in your Grail War?"

"Of course not. But that memory was different from the Tohsaka I knew later in life. She chose her path and asked me not to interfere. I tried to anyways, and found myself fighting a battle-crazy Irishwoman for my trouble. While I don't have any harsh feelings against Rin Tohsaka as a memory, the one I knew up until the end chose to sever our friendship herself. I think the Rin you knew was the same as mine, but different enough for you to have fallen in love with her." Shirou sighed helplessly. "To be honest, I'm just relieved you aren't the same kind of Archer I met. That man had nothing and nobody."

The Archer looked troubled for a moment before he scowled and scoffed. "Tch. So all that provocation just was to test me. Devious man. What would Saber say if she knew?"

"Probably something that would make me fall in love with her more," sighed Shirou, a dreamy expression plastered onto his face.

EMIYA shuddered. "When are you going to get over this honeymoon phase? It's seriously giving me and the others the creeps."

"It's been over a century for me you know?" said Shirou with a shrug. "I can't help it. And what do you mean by others?"

"Alter, for instance. You think she's gotten over seeing another version of herself in love? I might have, but the size of my ego isn't even a fraction of hers. Let alone the reaction you'll get from Gilgamesh when he finds out there's another Faker in Chaldea, in a relationship with Saber no less. And don't get me started on Lily..."

Shirou tilted his head in confusion. "Lily?"

"Never mind that," said EMIYA casually. "We've strayed off-topic. You still have to look around this place, don't you?"

"No, I finished that while we were talking."

EMIYA raised an eyebrow. "I had tens of thousands of Noble Phantasms. It should have taken you hours not minutes."

"For you, maybe," said Shirou with a nod. "My time in my Reality Marble stratified my magecraft to favor my role as Incarnation."

"Swords and nothing else, eh?" EMIYA muttered. "Then what was with that Broken Rho Aias you used in your last Rayshift?"

Shirou shrugged. "Anything that isn't a sword - spear, lance, axe, shield, and armor - costs me magnitudes more to Trace than a sword of equal rank. I bit the bullet there because it was the most convenient way to settle the battle from that point on."

"And getting caught in the middle of that army was all part of the plan?" asked EMIYA dryly.

Shirou scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Like I said, it was over a century. For you, if it was Rin -"

"She would have blasted me and half of Chaldea away already," said EMIYA, shaking his head. "I can't imagine my Rin's attitude after having a whole century to stew."

"Right?" said Shirou smiled fondly, looking back on those memories. "Even back in my Grail War, Tohsaka was nothing like Artoria."

"Indeed," said EMIYA gravely, closing his eyes and thinking back as well. He suddenly scoffed in remembrance. "Rin had more personality as I recall."

Shirou's smile froze. "...Well, at least Artoria isn't as prone to kill a man as she is to give him poisoned chocolates."

EMIYA's eyes snapped open and gazed upon the earth blandly. "...Well, at least Rin doesn't eat through the food supply of a small country for supper."

Lightning and thunder's age-old routine played itself out again. Blades in the dirt trembled and the giant gears in the sky began turning quicker. The clouds shook as if some god were trying to tear through them.

"Rin has no charm compared to Artoria."

"Charm? Oh yes, Rin and Artoria are world's apart in that regard."

Shirou's rictus smile grew wider like a faultline on a breaking iceberg. "I just knew we couldn't get along."

"How could we ever?" said EMIYA, his own face just as warm.

" **I am the bone of my sword."**

" **My body is made of swords."**

Thus EMIYA and Shirou learned firsthand what happened when two Reality Marbles had a brawl.

After the dust finally settled, the two agreed to never speak of the affair again.


	4. Broken Sword Requiem 2

**2:**

The night sky was a tapestry with countless twinkling jewels sewn onto it. A cloak that was slowly drawn over the sun every dusk to tuck her to sleep gently. A cloak that stretched itself ever thinner over time, distancing the stars from each other as they hung from their seams.

Orihime and Hikoboshi were even further apart than he had remembered.

Six hundred years further apart.

And still the world was dying.

Saber did not need to take his sandals off to know that. Just by looking at the diminished state of the forest, smelling the air laced with the faintest smell of vile poisons, and gazing up at the metal behemoths called skyscrapers - these were all examples of nature being subsumed by the will of man.

But on the other, very elated and relieved hand, _she_ was long gone at this time. If _she_ had still been here, the church Saber stood in front of would have been nothing more than an errant thought in the head of some scholarly priest.

Yes, Saber would rather the whole of Fuyuki become a barren wasteland over having to deal with the knowledge that _she_ was still poisoning the minds of men more than six hundred years after his own death.

Saber looked down from his consideration of star-crossed lovers. The Archer was still atop the church, still as a gargoyle. An interesting conundrum, that one. If not for the hair or skin tone, Saber could have sworn he saw more than a passing resemblance to his own features. He could have been family, really. Yet killing intent bled off of him like a particularly malodorous odor whenever he saw Saber or Shirou Emiya, at least until the man restrained himself.

Perhaps he and his master resembled a particularly hated enemy from the Servant's past life?

Regardless, Saber knew that the alliance between the girl and his Master was not going to be a harmonious one, not as long as Archer stayed the girl's Servant.

Biding time. Archer was biding his time until the right opportunity to strike. But for what? It would make the inevitable conflict easier to act on.

 _I suppose even if I knew we'd still be doing our best to kill each other when such a time comes._

The doors to the church opened. It seemed his Master had finished speaking with the Grail War Overseer. Not that the faint but sudden spike in killing intent from the church roof did not tip him off. The courtyard lightly echoed the steps of his Master and the girl as they made their way over to the edge of the property.

At least he did not have to wait long for them to get to him.

* * *

"Did you have fun? Oh, and am I out of a job yet?"

Shirou blinked as the questions tore him out of his thoughts and he turned to look at Saber. His Servant leaned against the church fence leisurely, as he had been doing when Shirou and Rin had first gone inside. The Servant had adamantly refused to follow them, saying he did not like entering places of worship or divinity, whatever that meant.

Saber glanced over his Master's shoulder and nodded lightly to Tohsaka Rin as she followed behind Shirou and closed the gate behind her.

"Fun isn't the word I would have used," Shirou said with a quick frown as he closed his eyes for a moment in thought. Taking a deep breath he straightened up to look Saber in the eyes, resolute. "And no to your second question too. I've decided. I'm going to fight in this Grail War."

Saber rolled his eyes. "Of course you were, kid. Wouldn't be much of a - well, a _Master_ if you weren't."

It was as if he were about to say something else before thinking better of it. "Saber?"

"It's nothing, really," said Saber, shrugging it off. "Nothing at all. But I suppose that since you've shown me your resolve to act as a Master in this Grail War, I should answer properly, as your appointed Servant."

Saber drew aside his cloak and bowed from his bare waist, showing the back of his neck to Shirou. "My swords are yours. My fire is yours. Thus, our armaments are one and the same." Saber's voice was solemn even as he straightened and bared his teeth humorlessly at Shirou. "Shall we try our hand in this game of death, Master?"

The sudden formality made Shirou blink. "O-oh, sure," he said, feeling strangely off-balance.

"We'll work on it," said Saber dryly. "What's our next move then? Does it have something to do with your girl over there?"

"Who are you calling 'his girl'?" Rin spat.

Saber sighed dramatically. "Yes I suppose you are of an age to be considered a woman. My apologies." His eyes ran almost indifferently over her figure. "Though appearances may speak to the contrary..."

"What did you just say?" said Rin in a low voice. Shirou reflexively moved between her and Saber.

"Wait, Rin." Archer materialized out of the air next to her, his arms crossed and expression carefully blank.

"What, Archer?" Rin huffed as she glared at Saber over Shirou's panicked head.

The white haired man glanced at Saber, who quickly rearranged his features into the picture of innocence. "He's baiting you for information on your combat magic."

"Oh no," drawled Saber, throwing up his hands in defeat. "Foiled."

The corner of one of Rin's eyes twitched. "Of course he is. Get out of my way Shirou, I just need to curse him a few times!"

"Hear that, kid?" Saber clapped his Master on the shoulder cheerfully. "She really does care about you!"

"You're not helping," hissed Shirou, his face red as Rin's at this point as he started waving his palms in front of him. "Tohsaka, I'll try to rein him in a bit, so can we not fight already, please?"

Rin took a deep breath and visibly calmed herself with great effort. Archer snorted and faded away into blue motes of prana. "This is a Holy Grail War, Shirou. You just declared yourself an active Master, in front of me, another active Master." She huffed and shook her head. "If you think about it, it's more weird that we haven't tried to kill each other already."

"Well, yeah, I guess that's true from your point of view," admitted Shirou. "But if it's at all possible, I don't want to fight you, Tohsaka."

"Shirou," said Rin in a tone one used when teaching someone being slow. "You heard what that fake priest said, didn't you? Only one of us is winning this Grail War."

With that she turned around started walking down the street, leaving Shirou lost in thought for a moment before he followed her.

Saber lifted his eyebrows in bemusement as he watched his Master go by.

"Tohsaka!" Shirou called out, stopping her in the middle of the deserted sloping road.

She turned to him with her eyebrows drawn together in a frown. "What now? It's late."

"Why do you want the Holy Grail?"

She studied him. A young man who barely knew a thing about the life of a true magus, who had only slipped under her radar because of how small his actual expertise was.

She studied him and found he was exactly what he appeared to be.

"I don't have a wish really. I just want to win and know that I'm being honest when I brag about it." She smirked wryly. "'Victor of the Fuyuki Grail War'. Do you know how good that would look on my Clocktower resume?"

"What, that's it?" Shirou laughed, sounding relieved. "If that's the case then I really don't want to fight with you."

Rin's mouth fell open for a moment before shook her head in frustration. "I could be lying to you, idiot!"

"Yeah, you could be," said Shirou with a wide smile. "But at the very least I think you're honest about the things you're serious about."

"You - ! Wha-! Agh, whatever!" Rin turned around with a huff and raised her foot to take a step forward -

A wave of heavy pressure slammed her foot down on the cobblestone.

Their eyes snapped around to look at the top of the hill, where a duo who could not have been more mismatched stood.

A little girl spotlighted by a streetlight and the titan next to her in the darkness roughly the shape of a man.

Shirou's eyes widened in faint recognition of two nights ago. "You're..." She could not have been any more older than eleven. A child, at best. Her eyes almost glowed red in the darkness, her long silver hair catching the moonlight to look ethereal. Her skin was the palest Shirou had ever seen, as if she had never been seen the sun before.

But it was the silent hulk next to her that a primal part of his mind was screaming at him to run away from. In the darkness, it could have been anywhere between two or three times his height, and in a hand that could have held his head like a baseball it held a huge jagged axe-sword almost as tall as Shirou.

Saber stepped forward in front of Shirou with his sheathed sword resting on his left shoulder, as if at ease. But his eyes were focused entirely on the hulk in front of him.

"Oh, so you _remembered_ me, older brother of mine. It's good to meet you again, and to meet you for the first time, Rin Tohsaka." the silver haired child said, curtsying mockingly. "I am Illyasviel von Einzbern. I'll be in your care."

A smile devoid of humor spread across her child-like face as she looked over Saber.

"And it looks like you've managed to summon your Servant." Her lips spread too far, becoming manic even as her ruby eyes stayed dead. "He even looks just like you, too. It'll be like killing you twice!"

She giggled, sending shivers down Shirou's spine.

"Berserker?" muttered Rin through clenched teeth, narrowing her eyes at the hulk. "And how is _that thing_ not cheating with those parameters?"

"Master," Saber suddenly said, without taking his eyes off the enemy Servant. "Breathe."

Shirou had not realized he had been holding his breath until Saber had spoken. He took a deep, shuddering breath. "Saber?"

"Get ready to run, too," Saber said softly, absolute focus on the monstrous Servant in front of him. "I'll have my hands full with this one."

"Well, I think that's been enough pre~am~ble," sang the girl, swaying from side to side to an inaudible, gentle beat.

Rin reached into her pockets and muttered under breath.

"Go kill them, Ber~ser~ker."

"▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー！！"

With a roar loud enough to make Shirou's stomach churn, Berserker _moved._

Saber sighed and glanced backwards at Shirou, raising an eyebrow as if surprised to still see him there.

"Sorry, kiddo."

The next thing Shirou knew, his forearms were throbbing with pain and he was flying through the air. Behind his instinctual guard, he saw Saber wink at him before turning to face Berserker, slamming his outstretched foot down to crack the concrete and turn aside the massive Servant's charge in a clash of demonic metal against unyielding stone.

And then Shirou hit the ground hard with a sharp grunt, rolling down a grassy hill as his body kicked up clods of earth and clumps of recently cut grass.

He groaned in pain as the momentum of Saber's kick bled out near the foot of the hill but pushed himself to his feet quickly, looking up at the top of the hill as he heard rocks shatter and metal scream in agony.

Flurries of midnight black trails lashed themselves against a thrumming storm of stone. But inexorably, they were forced back, forced to curve around the tempest rather than meet it head on.

This was nothing like the duel Shirou had seen between Lancer and Saber just a few hours ago. Although neither had truly been fighting to their fullest ability, they had still been fighting as if evenly matched.

Berserker was pushing Saber back with every blow, raw force and power negating the skill of every parry Saber made.

To take even a single blow from this enemy Servant meant death or severe injury for Saber. His face, normally so laid back, was tight with concentration as his eyes flickered gold, tracking all of Berserker's movements.

Even Shirou could see Saber was not being given any chance to fight back.

"He can't win like this."

The somber statement cut through his daze as Shirou turned to see Rin clutching at something in her hand.

"Shirou, get as far away from here as you can," said Rin, sparing the boy a glance. "You can at least recall Saber by Command Seal to a safe location before he dies."

"Wha - you can't just expect me to just run away without doing anything!" Shirou said incredulously, standing up straighter.

Rin stared. "Do you really think - "

"▂▂▃▃▃▃▅▅▅ーーー！"

Their eyes snapped up to the top of the hill as Berserker roared again, and with a screech of tearing metal Saber flew through the fence on the side of the road sending him running down the grassy hill.

Saber was backing up even faster now, and as soon as he hit the foot of the hill, Berserker emerged from the dust clouds he had kicked up behind him already charging again.

"Archer, if you're still around, listen!" Rin snapped. "The moment Saber can get clear, take your best shot at Berserker!"

She turned and started running. "Move, idiot!" She yelled. "We'll only get in his way if we stay!"

"Shit," Shirou muttered as he turned to run, glancing back bitterly only once.

He could barely even track the path of Saber's sword. It was like trying to see the teeth on a running chainsaw.

 _DAMN IT!_ Shirou's fists creaked as he clenched them in frustration, before finally following Tohsaka. _There really is nothing I can do to help!_

* * *

Saber barely sidestepped a vertical slash and as it came down he slammed both his scabbard and sword onto the back of the axe-sword, slamming into the earth with a deafening thud, throwing up dust and carving a crater into the ground.

As Saber stepped in to cut at Berserker's exposed chest, the huge Servant _let go_ of his axe-sword's handle and narrowly ducked under Saber's cut with a spin that ended in a backhanded fist, sending Saber skidding across the grass despite having blocked it with both his scabbard and blade.

"Well ain't that something," muttered Saber. Raising his voice, he said to Berserker, "Even mad, your skills are sharp." _What kind of warrior could this man have been under a different class?_

The enemy Servant growled, grabbing the handle of its axe-sword and yanking it out of the earth.

"It's strange, isn't it?" mused Saber as he threw his scabbard away, letting it dissolve into motes of prana. Likewise, he kicked off his sandals. They were both slowing him down at this point. "You're so much stronger and faster than me, with my skill the only point I can contest you with, so why am I able to fight you like this? You must be a -"

"▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー！！"

Berserker charged again, axe-sword raised to strike.

"Let's try something," muttered Saber.

Saber pressed his bare feet on the grass, feeling the soil beneath shift and sway. He placed both hands on his sword, blade held towards the earth without a stance. His eyes began pulsing green even as wisps of shadow trickled out under his eyelids.

And he met Berserker's charge in a tremendous cacophony of noise.

A shock wave swept the field around the clash clean of loose grass, and even before they settled down the screeching of metal grinding against stone made them quake.

Black sparks rained down on the grass as Saber grunted with exertion, seemingly matching the monstrous Servant in strength as the bedrock beneath their feet cracked.

Until Berserker roared in fury, and _punched_ the back of his axe-sword with his other hand, flinging Saber back and high into the air. By the time Saber had shaken off the force of the blow and before he could reorient himself, the enemy Servant had already leapt up to match Saber's height.

 _No way to dodge or parry!_ Saber held the back of his blade with his other hand, barely putting up the guard against the vicious swipe that sent him hurtling to the ground.

Saber flipped in the air at the last moment and landed feet first as his impact cratered the ground.

His eyes pulsed green. _Behind!_

Berserker sliced at him as he came down, a blow that Saber could only barely parry before the force of the massive Servant's landing threw up even more dust.

Saber backed out from the cloud in a rush of red and black, sporting a line of blood running freely down his right arm.

"So my Enemy of Divinity and Communion with Nature aren't enough to match your raw strength on the ground, but you still launched me into the air to deprive me of even those advantages." Saber smiled with all the joy of a corpse. "Just which legendary hero are you? Kintoki?"

Berserker shook the ground with a growl in response.

A star twinkled in the night above Berserker's head.

Saber's eyes widened and he leapt back.

Berserker merely turned his head.

The air screamed as an arrow of light scrabbled at the sound barrier for the briefest of instances before slamming against Berserker's naked eye and exploding.

The force of the explosion was enough to make Saber rock lightly back on his heels even dozens of meters away. As the light died and flames tore at the ground, it was clear the hill sported yet another deep wound, to say nothing of the grass flattened for football fields around. Saber was fairly certain the shock wave alone could have killed or caused any regular human serious injury just by standing near the blast radius.

The moment he had detected the incoming Noble Phantasm, a brief thought had run through his mind about the notion of overkill. But such a notion died as Saber's eyes flashed green with an awareness that bordered on true Clairvoyance.

 _You can't be serious,_ thought Saber as a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. _What kind of bullshit defensive Noble Phantasm does this Berserker possess?_

His enemy towered in the conflagration like an immovable pillar of stone, untouched.

If that was Archer's 'best shot', Saber could consider his support virtually useless.

 _Guess i_ _t's up to me._

Saber closed his eyes and shifted his footing on the much abused earth. As Berserker stirred into motion Saber's eyes snapped open, blazing a deep emerald. Waves of the prana he was gathering rustled his short red hair. His sword's hunger began bleeding from its tip, dripping onto the grass like congealed darkness.

Again, Berserker charged right at Saber, raising his axe-sword high into the air, full of openings.

 _You're that confident I'm not going to harm you?_ Thought Saber with a twinge of irritation. _Then I invite you to dine at Yomi's hearth._

He spoke the lines to invoke his Noble Phantasm.

" **Though my fire is shamed and my sword broken, t** **his fate at least, I shall cut down."**

As he got into range, Berserker swung.

And Saber brought forth the culmination of everything he had ever striven towards.

* * *

"Idiot! Why did you even come here?!" Rin yelled, ducking behind a tree as three translucent swords sank deeply into its trunk.

"It isn't like I made her come after us!" Shirou bit back from behind another tree.

"Oh my, what a talkative bunch of vermin I've chosen to hunt tonight!"

Branches and twigs snapped softly in the clearing as small purple shoes stepped slowly towards the trees Shirou and Rin hid behind. Three crystalline birds hung in the moonlight above Illyasviel, each connected to her fingers by silvery threads.

"And like rats, they hide so very - "

Rin popped out of cover from around the other side of the tree trunk with her left arm outstretched and snapped, "Gandr!"

Curses in the form of black orbs flew out of Rin's palm, thrumming with malice. Illyasviel twitched a finger and a crystal bird flattened itself into a white shield that the curses simply washed off against. With a giggle, the Einzbern child raised a hand to her head and flicked her wrist, snapping off a strand of her hair while the remaining two glass familiars turned into swords. As she let her hand fall, the strand she held wove itself into two more bird familiars and the swords flew towards Rin at the same time.

"Tohsaka!" Shirou yelled.

Rin dove behind the cover of another tree just as the swords slammed into the ground behind her and unraveled into strands of hair, burning up moments later.

"I know how to dodge by myself, idiot!" Rin said with gritted teeth. _It's not enough that Berserker is a monster on his own, but his Master is hardly a normal magus, even considering the fact that she's already supporting a monster like that. As expected of the Einzbern family, I guess._

 _Rin,_ Archer's voice echoed in her mind.

 _How's Saber doing?_ Asked Rin immediately.

 _Not good,_ said Archer without a trace of tension. _It seems unlikely he'll be able to defeat Berserker, especially considering my own attacks are doing nothing._

 _Damn._ Rin peeked out of cover, narrowing her eyes at Illyasviel. She fingered a few rubies in her pocket. _We'll have to go after the Master then, before Saber -_

"Oho?" Illyasviel's hungry expression morphed into one of polite surprise. She turned to look to her left, stopping. "Well, well, isn't this a surprise."

 _Archer?_ Rin figured her Servant would have a good sight line on the battle. _What's happened?_

The shock was clear in his voice as Archer said slowly:

 _Saber's killed Berserker._

"It's too bad though~" sang Illya.

 _Why don't you sound happy about this?_ And why wasn't Illya worried or concerned that her Servant just -

"Because Berserker's _the strongest in the world_!"

 _Berserker's revived,_ Archer proclaimed grimly.

 _What?! How?!  
_

 _A Noble Phantasm, I'd assume.  
_

 _No shit!_

"By now, Saber or Archer should be telling you what's happened. I'll give you a bi~g hint for free: my Berserker's True Name is Heracles," said Illyasviel proudly. "Of course, you would know the tasks of which he was most famous for in legend."

"The Twelve Labors," muttered Rin, feeling her blood run cold. _We have to kill that_ thing _eleven more times?  
_

"Heracles?" Shirou muttered. "The Greek demigod?"

The Einzbern giggled lightly and turned around. "Aaaand, up to here should be fine."

And she started walking away, her steps light as if about to break into dance.

"Running away?" Rin called out.

 _Archer?_

 _Berserker's disengaged, he's coming to you.  
_

"Hardly, Miss Tohsaka. But they say absolute despair only comes when given time to fester, no?" Illyasviel turned to smile, innocent as a snow fairy.

Behind her, the forest gave way like dry reeds before a storm. Berserker silently held out a hand to Illya, who stepped on and used it as a platform to sit on his huge shoulder. It seemed that Illyasviel was leaving, having toyed with them to her satisfaction.

While Rin felt frustration gnawing at the edges of her self control, she could only count this turn of events as a good thing. She had gained valuable intelligence tonight on the capabilities of two Servants, and -

"Why are you trying kill us?" came from a voice from beside her.

Rin turned disbelieving eyes to Shirou, who had stood up from his cover and narrowed his amber eyes at Illyasviel.

 _What are you doing, you idiooooooot!?_

As she took her seat atop Berserker's shoulder, Illyasviel froze. A crack ran through the little angel's facade as she focused burning ruby eyes on Shirou. "What more reason do I need to attack an enemy Master in a Grail War?" She sneered. "But more importantly, what more reason do I need than to _destroy the last remnant of Kiritsugu Emiya?"_

 _The Magus Killer? Emiya?_ All of a sudden Rin felt like slamming her head into a tree trunk. _How did I not make that connection earlier?!_

Shirou's eyes widened in shock. "How do you - !"

Berserker turned and ran off with Illyasviel at a speed neither Rin or Shirou could possibly hope to match.

"Wai-hrmf!" Shirou's words and steps were stopped by the hand Rin had slapped over his mouth. As he winced in pain, she rounded on him.

"We barely got out of this alive, idiot!" Rin snarled. "Don't go ruining it now!"

Whatever Shirou said in response was garbled by her hand, but Rin could get the gist of it. And it irritated her.

"And anyways, it doesn't matter what you wanted to ask, she's long gone," Rin said, taking her hand away from his mouth and wiping it on her skirt.

"She knew Kiritsugu," said Shirou slowly, sounding the words out as if they were a philosophical puzzle.

 _I have eyes on Berserker's Master from here.  
_

 _Let them go._ Her frustration was getting bigger, but there was not much she could do about it. _I doubt you could do anything to her anyways with Berserker right there._

 _Appreciate the faith._

 _You've earned all of it so far. Just keep doing what you've been doing and then I can consider this Grail War already half won._

"Oh, Saber!"

Tohsaka blinked and turned as vegetation rustled behind her. Had she really been so distracted not to notice the Servant's approach?

"Man, he really has no respect for nature," drawled the older Shirou-look-a-like as he emerged from behind the bent tree trunks slowly, stepping carefully in the trail blazed by Berserker. "Not that he should care about retribution considering the gods have left the forests of this time vacant, but still. It's the principle of the thing."

"Are you okay?" Shirou walked past Tohsaka and to his Servant, concerned.

"A little scratched up but otherwise I'm alright," said Saber with smile as he waved his right hand.

Splattering the ground with his blood.

"Maybe I could use some rest and food," amended the man as he took a length of cloth out of one of the boxes attached to his leg. "What about you two, anything happen I should be concerned about?"

"We - Tohsaka? Where are you going?"

Rin sighed quietly to herself. So much for a quick getaway. As persistent as ever was Shirou Emiya.

 _Whether it be for high-jumping and everything else.  
_

She turned to face Shirou with narrowed eyes. "We may have been allies tonight, but that was only because we had a common enemy."

"This again, Tohsaka?" said Shirou exasperatedly. "Isn't it better for both of us if we just team up for the rest of the Grail War? That way, at the very least, neither of us have to keep our guards up at school."

Rin scowled. _Damn you for making sense. Why can't you just be a straightforward villain like that Einzbern brat?_

"And I won't have to kill you, here and now!"

Shirou and Tohsaka both stared at Saber, who was casually holding his sheathed sword on his shoulder again. He had already wrapped his right arm's wound with the white length of cloth.

"Why are you two looking at me like that?" asked Saber quizzically. "Master, she's not in any actual danger, its just about the - " He lightly tapped the side of his scabbard against his temple, and a bright smile spread across his face. " _\- implication._ It's not like she'll say no, right?"

 _Archer I might need you to get here faster._

 _How much faster do you -_

 _Don't make me waste a Command Seal._

 _I'll be right there._

"Saber!" Shirou exclaimed. "We are not threatening Tohsaka into an alliance!"

"It's not a threat, there's no actual danger!" Saber protested, as he quickly hid his sword behind his back like it was a toy he was not supposed to be playing with. "It's just about the _implication_ of such a thing, you know?"

"Stop saying that word like that!" Shirou cried out desperately. "It's creepy!"

"Master," Saber waggled a finger. "Why are you so worked up? _Y_ _ou_ certainly aren't in any danger."

"SO THERE REALLY IS DANGER INVOLVED!"

She almost heard her patience snap at that moment.

"Ah, fine then, we'll call a truce then!" Rin yelled at the two idiots. "You want an alliance so bad, then FINE, we're in an alliance! Now I'm going home and taking a shower and then I'm going to sleep off this horrible night!"

And with that, she stormed off towards the city.

...While making sure Archer was close enough to provide cover fire.

* * *

"So this is what they call a 'tsundere'. I see, I see." Saber nodded his head sagely as the back of Tohsaka's head disappeared over the hill.

 _Why did the Holy Grail give you knowledge of that term?!_ Shirou retorted wonderfully in his heart. But the fatigue of everything that had happened tonight suddenly caught up to him, so he could only simply shook his head in resignation.

But his thoughts must have shown on his face, as Saber explained, "Apparently the Grail considered what the average high school boy knew of when it came to knowledge that it should impart on me."

"What part of that is necessary information?!" Shirou groaned. "No, never mind, let's just go home, Saber..."

The Servant of the sword laughed and followed his Master.

 _It's good to be home,_ mused Saber. _Even if it has changed so very much in the last six hundred years I have been gone._

He couldn't help but hold a smile on his face at that.

* * *

AN:

As you can tell, isn't a Limited/ZeroOver chapter. As it stands, what I have down for LZO is crap, plain and simple. I'm an inconsistent writer, which isn't helped by the fact that I have (possibly unrealistic) standards.

This and Nullpunkt c2 was what I wrote on the side while trying to get everything straight. Different stories to help cleanse my palate.

I'm trying to get my shit together when it comes to LZO, sorry. It'll be a bit while everything gets sorted.

Ah, but 'The Gang Goes to Fight in a Grail War' would be hilarious, wouldn't it?


End file.
